Saturday, 6 September 2008

Who's Watching You? Probably Your Kids...

Well, it seems the eco-loons weren't the only ones keen to recruit children as snoops:

Children as young as eight have been recruited by councils to "snoop" on their neighbours and report petty offences such as littering, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The difference is, these kiddies get paid, too:

The youngsters are among almost 5,000 residents who in some cases are being offered £500 rewards if they provide evidence of minor infractions.

One in six councils contacted by the Telegraph said they had signed up teams of "environment volunteers" who are being encouraged to photograph or video neighbours guilty of dog fouling, littering or "bin crimes".

The "covert human intelligence sources", as some local authorities describe them, are also being asked to pass on the names of neighbours they believe to be responsible, or take down their number-plates.

Ealing Council in West London said: "There are hundreds of Junior Streetwatchers, aged 8-10 years old, who are trained to identify and report enviro-crime issues such as graffiti and fly-tipping."

Harlow Council in Essex said: "We currently have 25 Street Scene Champions who work with the council. They are all aged between 11 to 14. They are encouraged to report the aftermath of enviro-crimes such as vandalism to bus shelters, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, fly-tipping etc. They do this via telephone or email direct to the council."

Other local authorities recruit adult volunteers through advertisements in local newspapers, with at least 4,841 people already patrolling the streets in their spare time.

Some are assigned James Bond-style code numbers, which they use instead of their real names when they ring a special informer's hotline.

What a wonderful society we are building, eh...? Did anyone ever believe that in the UK, local councils would be taking lessons from Nicolae Ceausescu?

1: You can make home-made guns from pipes and the powder from fireworks, and try to take the bastards out that way.

2: You can come with me when I move to the US eventually (or to the Republic of Texas under President Rachel Lucas, if Obama wins), where we can form a government in exile and train with cool stuff like AK47s, ready for the assault to take our country back.

3: Decide that although the Tories would maybe include more bread than turd, what you'd be eating would still be a shit sandwich, and vote Libertarian instead.

I'd prefer option 3 - I might be leaving these shores for good one day, but I wouldn't want the country of my birth to go completely down the pan.

Rob - your third option is tempting, but (tactically speaking) what is the likelihood of the Libertarians forming a government from a standing start? Whereas, if half the possible Tory voters go Libertarian, NuLab could squeak back in.

Personally, I see the Tories as the best combination of policies and outlook that is likely to be capable of being put into practice.

My view is that the next election is the first one where they have sorted themselves out enough, and NuLab have been rumbled by enough voters, for there to be a chance of a change. If the Tories screw this one up, then I guess I'll have to give up and form my own party.